(Last time i was flamed for my poor english im very sorry) I have been watching world cups for 4 years and this is the first year I'm committed to watching the whole NHL. Lately I've been thinking that the boards not being flat don't really do any good (Hughes hit on Norris for example). Why can't they "fade in" to be completely flat from the benches to the glass? I'm genuinly curious what do they help with. They dont have enough spacefor a ref to quickly sit on. Is it for glass to not fall easier? Is it to help players and refs to stand up after a bad hit? (Yes I know I'm very dumb no need to swear or call me that in the comments)
31 comments
So I have something to hold onto while skating. It’s slippery out there.
Playing hockey for 25 years. Never thought about this take, I’ve had stitches from those dasher boards 2 separate times. They should flatten em
The glass needs to be able to bend and flex when impacted. I imagine its more stable bieng mounted in the middle of the board as well as where the mounting brackets are.
My guess is to better absorb impacts. Otherwise the whole force of a check would be concentrated on the shoulders/head. By having the lower half of the board sticking out, the impact can be better absorbed in part by the lower body.
Refs and linesmen also use them to elevate themselves and get out of the way of play.
It’s left over from when boards had poles embedded in them to support the chickenwire/fences that used to surround rinks. I imagine it’s probably mostly a tradition/change is expensive type thing but players def use it for leverage during puck battles.
That’s really interesting question.
It might just be a remnant from older board technology.
Stability of the glass, and allows refs to brace themselves, and jump out of the way of a puck along the boards
There’s a nice cut-away model of how a ice hockey board works here (scroll down a bit).
https://www.athletica.com/what-is-a-dasher-board/
I actually don’t think there’s a straight answer as to why we still have dashers, as they are called, on boards. The argument of referees needing something to brace against to get out of the way of pucks and players definitely makes sense. I’d also guess that they were sort of necessary when constructing rinks and boards that used older materials. Now, they could absolutely be constructed with no dasher or at least a much smaller and safer dasher. Could be the next safety innovation in the game since we see so many injuries due to the dasher, but I have found that once a rink has their boards in, they are pretty set for many many years to come so it would be a slow process outside of the professional level.
so the players can climb the boards and fight the fans
When I’m at the end of a shift and get into a puck battle on the boards, I have something to lean on with my forearm, while my other arm is slashing the shit out of my opponent. Makes it more safe for me. I’m too damn tired, man.
If I remember right from when I did conversion for Tampa, it’s for the glass, it kind of acts as a rocker with the rubber coating to keep it in place, other than that there’s literally just little metal “clamps” I guess that make the railing between each pain of glass that hold the glass up, and I believe the metal stanchion things had a wrather narrow seeding in the boards
You ever been ice skating? Them boards are real important if you’re slipping and falling and tired and drunk.
Do you guys remember the seamless glass craze of the late 90s? Great for viewing, but that was like hitting a wall.
I also remember when the Sabres changed out their seamless glass for a clear plastic glass system and the boards and glass would give so much and have such a different sound to it.
Shouldn’t have gotten rid of the second set.
Better question, why aren’t they clear?
It’s so players have something to lean on during practice when they get bored of being lectured at by the coach.
In actuality, it’s probably just “tradition”. Boards were build that way back in the day with the posts that hold the boards often also holding the glass and said posts were pretty much in the ‘center’ of the boards and then clad on each side.
While refs do use it to elevate themselves at times, not sure that’s the reason why they are this way vs. just something they were able to do because of that.
To put your beer on.
I played at a roller hockey rink called Silver Creek Sports Complex (Google their rink, I couldn’t post an image). As a fan, I loved the visibility of the boards, the glass goes all the way to the floor. As a player, hitting the glass was like hitting a concrete wall, there was no give. Ice hockey boards are designed to have some “give” to them, so when you hit them they absorb some of the force. If they made the boards a solid wall, we’d have way more injuries from hits. So I’d say the design is a safety issue and unless safer boards are designed, it won’t change.
> They dont have enough spacefor a ref to quickly sit on.
Actually refs and linesmen use the ledge regularly to boost themselves out of the way of the play/puck. While it’s true they’re not wide enough to sit on fully, you can easily lift yourself on ledge with your hands to get skates off the ice entirely for a good bit.
That’s unlikely the original intent and more of a side effect of it existing. My guess as to how it came to be would be more to do with ease of construction as the glass panels must absorb considerable impact forces.
Physics. If the boards were flat, the force of impact wouldn’t be distributed well and getting hit into them would hurt a LOT and probably result in a ton of injuries/broken bones.
Also replacing the glass and breaking down the rink would be much harder, and refs wouldn’t be able to use them to jump out of play.
I’m no scientist but flat seems like it would be worse for injury as it’s more rigid
That’s where you put your beer can , it’s thirsty work out there , stay hydrated
There’s also rubber on the outter half of bench boards so you have something to grip onto while jumping on/off. It’s always fun to watch beer leaguers play on NHL ice when they don’t know its there.
I like when the puck goes around the ledge like ZOOM!
Honest question, do they use different type boards for the NHL because of the hitting? Seems like the boards flex a lot more in the pros than my local rink
So that there is a “dasher” that the puck and players can use during play.
Something to lean on, they are skating hard out there and need to catch their breath.
Anyone flaming you for asking questions just isn’t very nice and I’m glad you feel safe enough to ask anyway. As other people have mentioned, it’s likely for the stability of the glass. It’s interesting though, the part in red is a more, for lack of a better word, cushioned material to help with impacts. Could be better, but in the past it’s definitely been worse.
https://www.athletica.com/softcap/ this is the manufacturer of the material they use for cushioning
https://forums.hfboards.com/threads/why-is-there-a-ledge-on-the-boards.2608041/ good thread about your question
It’s for the referees to lift themselves out of the way during play where the puck is coming at them.
Next time you watch a game, watch the refs, they do it a fair bit.
It would be hard to the posts into the boards that are holding the glass, unless it was a solid piece of glass top to bottom